Examining Solitary Confinement in the United States
Earlier this semester, I completed a documentary review on Solitary Nation, an episode of Frontline which documented the experiences of inmates in solitary confinement in Maine State Prison. The episode, which was the seventh episode of the 32nd season of Frontline, first aired on April 22, 2014 and was directed by Daniel Edge. Ultimately, this documentary uses gruesome images and emotional case studies to show the need to drastically reform solitary confinement in the United States. It also documents the journey of the new prison warden, Rodney, in his mission to reduce the use of solitary confinement and implement other strategies to deal with violent inmates. I thought the film was incredibly well-done; however, it was limited in the fact that it only focused on a few inmates in one prison. After watching, I was prompted to read some broader, more recent research on solitary confinement in the United States today.
Conditions differ depending on the state and prison, but in general, solitary confinement means that the inmates are confined behind a steel door 22-24 hours a day with extremely limited human contact. There are an estimated 80,000-100,000 people in solitary confinement in the United States (Edge, 2014). Common factors of living in isolation include: limited access to rehabilitation or educational programs, limited mental health and medical treatment, and, in some cases, forms of torture such as permanent bright lighting, extreme temperatures, or stun grenades (“Solitary Confinement Facts”).
In terms of reform, there have been recent efforts to limit the amount of solitary confinement allowed. In 2017, some bills were introduced in Massachusetts, including one that restricted the use of solitary to 180 days a year rather than a decade (Zoukis, 2018). Additionally, in 2018, The American Bar Association passed a resolution for state officials to limit its use as a “last resort” and “for no longer than is necessary.. Typically not to exceed 15 consecutive days” (Zoukis, 2018). There have also been efforts to restrict the use of solitary on juveniles and the mentally ill, including the Solitary Confinement Reform Act introduced in 2018 (115th Congress, 2018).
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice eliminated the use of solitary confinement as a form of discipline, effective in 2017. However, this only affected 76 prisoners; the other 4,000 prisoners in isolation were reportedly there for the protection of themselves and others (Zoukis, 2018). The case in Texas is similar to an issue faced by Rodney, the prison warden, in the documentary. While he is trying to reduce the use of solitary in his prison, to do so ultimately means putting other prisoners and staff at risk. In one scene, Rodney is at a meeting with other prison staff and trying to pick an inmate to pull out of the isolation unit. The other staff members, particularly the ones who have to directly deal with these inmates, express their concern and fear of getting hurt, as some of them have been in the past. The documentary also states at the end that one inmate who they released from solitary ended up murdering another inmate after being back in the general population.
These scenes in the documentary demonstrate that while solitary confinement is certainly in need of reform, the actual process of pulling people out who have been in there for years can be very dangerous. Thus, in terms of reducing solitary, reformers face a dilemma in which they must decide between trying to help people who have been isolated for years or ensuring the safety of prison staff and other inmates. Furthermore, while I had originally thought of solitary confinement as merely a form of punishment within prisons, doing this research helped me realize that in many cases, the inmates are just too dangerous (or in too much danger) to have around other people. This is why some prisons, lacking the proper resources for psychological treatment, turn to what seems to be the only option: isolation.
Using solitary confinement for prisoners who are deemed dangerous is referred to as administrative segregation (Weir, 2012). In fact, prisons began using solitary as a means of protecting people in response to growing gang violence within prisons (Weir, 2012). However, segregation for safety purposes has never actually been proven to make prisons safer (Weir, 2012). Instead, it seems that placing people in solitary for years on end only makes it more difficult for them to return to the general population, because being there causes so much trauma. This is shown in the documentary I watched, which follows one inmate, Adam, as he enters solitary for the first time. In the beginning, Adam tells the director that he is confident he can handle solitary confinement, and even expects to enjoy the extra downtime. However, by the end of the documentary, Adam is regularly self-harming, starts riots in the unit, and is even shown pushing feces under his door and flooding his cell. Eventually, Adam is sent to the mental health unit in the prison.
While some progress has been made in recent years to reform solitary confinement in prisons, more still needs to be done to reduce its use, especially as a punishment. In my opinion, there must be more of a focus on mental health treatment for ‘problematic’ prisoners. Even in the documentary, prisoners who are sent to the mental health unit are shown to be in a much better place afterward. However, for many of them, they are only sent there for a few months after self-harming, only to return back to solitary immediately afterward. We need to start looking at long-term solutions that can help integrate these forgotten prisoners back into regular social interactions.
Sources:
Edge, Daniel (Director). (April 22, 2014). Solitary Nation (Season 32, Episode 7) [TV Series Episode]. In D. Fanning (Executive Producer), Frontline. PBS.
115th Congress (April 19, 2018). “S.2724 – Solitary Confinement Reform Act.” Congress.Gov. Retrieved from: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2724/text?format=txt
“Solitary Confinement Facts.” American Friends Service Committee. AFSC.Org. Retrieved from: https://www.afsc.org/resource/solitary-confinement-facts
Weir, Kristen (May 2012). “Alone, in the hole.” American Psychological Association. Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/05/solitary
Zoukis, Christopher (October 8, 2018). “Solitary Confinement Reforms Sweeping the Nation But Still Not Enough.” Prison Legal News. Retrieved from: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/oct/8/solitary-confinement-reforms-sweeping-nation-still-not-enough/